Category: News

The much anticipated follow up to the Swatch x Omega MoonSwatch is finally here. If you’re new to the watch world then a brief explanation: Swatch has been collaborating with some of the legendary brands owned by the Swatch Group to produce colourful, accessible versions of those brands’ signature watches. The first such watch, the MoonSwatch, proved incredibly popular and people queued through the night to procure one from the select stores they were available from, since they’re not available online. Now we have a new collaboration that people will go crazy for, the Swatch x Blancpain Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms.

When I say that there has been anticipation for the new launch, it would perhaps be more correct to say trepidation. While the initial MoonSwatch was received incredibly well, Swatch consistently released new versions each month and with each release more and more people lost interest. As such, a lot of people were wondering whether the teased Blancpain collab would be a return to form or a continuation of the downward trend.

I’m happy to report that the Swatch x Blancpain Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms is cool. There are five distinct colourways and in the same way that the original MoonSwatches were each dedicated to a planet in the solar system, each of the Scuba Fifty Fathoms (I still think it should be called the Swatchy Fathoms) is dedicated to one of the five oceans found on Earth. Before we delve into those individual models, let’s talk specs since all five watches are the same.

The watch has a 42.3mm diameter case in the signature Fifty Fathoms style with a faithful recreation of the Blancpain rotating bezel and crown. The crown and dial are dual signed by the collaborating brands. The piece genuinely looks like a colourful rendition of the Fifty Fathoms, which is itself one of the most famous and coolest dive watches ever produced. As for the Scuba Fifty Fathom’s functionality as a dive watch, it has a water resistance rating of fifty fathoms, which equates to 91m or 300ft.

Perhaps the biggest and most important development between this watch and the MoonSwatch is that the Scuba Fifty Fathoms houses a mechanical movement instead of quartz. It’s Swatch’s mass produced Sistem 51, which has a fully automated production system meaning it never sees a pair of human hands. It’s certainly not as prestigious or high quality as even a baseline Swiss movement like a Sellita but on paper it has reasonable specs such as its Nivachron hairspring with magnetic field resistance and 90-hour power reserve.

Arctic Ocean

The first of the colourways is dedicated to the Arctic Ocean, the cold ocean at the top of the world. This particular reference is inspired by the Blancpain Fifty Fathom No Rad, featuring a crossed through radiation symbol at 6 o’clock indicating that the lume does not contain radioactive material, as lume once did. The colours here are a sandy beige with orange accents and bezel.

Flipping it shows an exhibition caseback where you can see that the movement has been decorated with a depiction of the Arctic Ocean and the rotor bears an image of a nudibranch, an exotic marine animal that exists in all five oceans – each watch bears an image of a type of nudibranch native to their waters.

Pacific Ocean

Next is the Pacific Ocean edition with its yellow-orange bioceramic case, black bezel and grey fumé gradient dial. It has slightly different hour markers to the Arctic Ocean above as it features triangles rather than circles. There are also Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. Again we have the open caseback with ocean and nudibranch decoration.

Atlantic Ocean

For the Atlantic Ocean Swatch x Blancpain Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms, they’ve gone for a full blue aesthetic. A light blue case, a dark blue bezel and a gradient dial that transitions between the two shades. It also features a blue NATO strap that like all five watches here is made from upcycled fishing nets.

Looking at the caseback it once again has the ocean and animal decorations but actually, if we zoom out and look at the bioceramic ring around the edge of the exhibition window, we find a series of positive affirmations: PASSION FOR DIVING – LICENCE TO EXPLORE – OCEAN BREATH – PROTECT WHAT YOU LOVE and IMMERSE YOURSELF. This too is a feature of all five watches.

Indian Ocean

You can really feel the warmer climate of Indian Ocean in the Indian Ocean edition, which is a combination of green, black and orange. The green-orange combo of the dial and seconds hand is actually reminiscent of the Indian flag, which is a nice touch. This one has the most bizarre looking nudibranch, although to be fair, all of them are pretty strange.

Antarctic Ocean

Last but by no means least, we have the Antarctic Ocean Scuba Fifty Fathoms, an icy white and grey edition. This one flips back to the circle hour markers like the Arctic edition because it too has an additional symbol at 6 o’clock. Or more specifically it’s actually a function because it’s a moisture detector that shows if the watch has been compromised. This is a feature that Blancpain introduced on some of their Mil-Spec Fifty Fathoms because where watches are issued to people rather than owned by individuals, you want to check that the previous user hasn’t damaged the watch.

There you have it, the five new Swatch x Blancpain Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms. My personal favourite is the Arctic because I adore the No Rad model and I’m a sucker for the colour orange. If you want to pick one up, then there are a couple of things you’ll need to know. First, the price, all five editions are £340. That’s a fair bit more than the MoonSwatch but also these are automatic so that price increase is easily explained. They also won’t break the bank which is kind of the point, being accessible reinterpretations of classic watches.

Secondly, the watches are only available from specific Swatch stores globally and will not be available to purchase online. (At least until scalpers put them up for sale on pre-owned sites for exorbitant prices.) In the UK, the stores selling them are: London Covent Garden, London Oxford Street, London Battersea Power Station, Manchester Trafford Centre Pop-up, Glasgow and Edinburgh. In all cases they are operating a one watch per customer per day rule in expectation of high demand. They’re not limited editions but stock is likely to sell out quickly. Lastly, the watches go on sale on September 9th, that’s this coming Saturday.

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Spanish speakers will know that the word ‘carrera’ translates into English as ‘race’ – and most readers of this magazine will know that it’s the nameplate belonging to one of the most successful driver’s chronographs in horological history. The existence of the TAG Heuer Carrera can be traced back to 1962 when Jack Heuer, the great grandson of Heuer founder Edouard, was attending the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance event at which the legendary Rodriguez brothers, Ricardo and Pedro, were driving for Ferrari.

The pair were idolised as Mexico’s most famous racing drivers, and present on the day were their parents, with whom Heuer struck up a conversation in the pits. Soon, talk turned to their country’s most famous race – La Carrera PanAmericana – and Heuer immediately became enthralled both by the idea of the event (which had been scrapped eight years earlier) and by the evocative sound of ‘carrera’. Having recently taken the reins of the Heuer business, he quickly determined to make his mark by registering the Carrera name to avoid any other watch brand using it and, by December 1963, the new Heuer Carrera driver’s chronograph was ready for launch.

It featured a 36mm steel case, a Valjoux 72 manual- wind movement and the reference number 2447D. The base model was known as the ‘Carrera-12’ – due to its 12-hour totaliser at six o’clock – and it retailed in the U.S. at $98.45. The Carrera quickly became the default choice of both professional drivers and enthusiastic amateurs alike, and its success led to several variations on the theme aimed not only at sportsmen, but engineers and scientists, too.

There was the Carrera Tachy (with an inner tachymeter scale); the Carrera 45 (which had a 45-minute register and a jumping minute hand for timing sports events); the Carrera Deci (with one-fifth of a second and one 100th of a minute graduations for decimal timing) and the Carrera Black (with black dial for enhanced legibility). But, as Jack Heuer had initially envisioned, it was as a driver’s watch that the Carrera really caught on, gaining increased recognition after 1969 when the original Valjoux movement was replaced with the Heuer-developed Calibre 11 – one of the original self- winding chronograph mechanisms and identifiable by a left-hand winding crown.

As the years passed multiple different designs of Carrera were made and, across two decades of continuous production, Carreras of one sort or another were seen on the wrists of the world’s leading racers, including Bruce McLaren, Jo Siffert, Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni to name but a few.

Indeed, among the most sought-after of all Carreras is the Reference 1158 CHN, the 18-carat gold Carrera that was gifted to Ferrari F1 drivers during Heuer’s sponsorship of the team between 1971 and 1979. Lauda, Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, and Ronnie Peterson were among those who wore the 1158 CHN – with the latter’s being bought back by TAG Heuer at Sotheby’s in 2016 for a record $230,000.

By the early 1980s, however, the accuracy and affordability of quartz movements was both taking its financial toll on the traditional watch industry and making clockwork seem anachronistic. In fact, Heuer’s own, quartz powered Chronosplit had already become the cool watch to be seen with in the pits, not the Carrera…As a result, the Carrera line was dropped in 1984, shortly before the company was sold-off to Akram and Mansour Ojeh of tech investment company Techniques Avant Garde (hence the inclusion of ‘TAG’ in TAG Heuer).

The motor sport connection was only made stronger, however, by the fact that TAG partnered with Porsche to build the TAG Turbo engines that powered McLaren to a trio of F1 championship wins between 1984 and 1987. The link undoubtedly helped promote a call from watch and motor racing fans from around the world for the return of the Carrera, which was re-introduced in 1998 with a ‘Classics’ series based on the 1960s originals and carrying only the Heuer name.

After LVMH acquired the TAG Heuer brand the following year, it too launched a similar, slightly larger vintage look Carrera (the 39mm CV2110-0 with Calibre 17 movement) – and then set about using the name on what became a truly bewildering array of watches ranging from skeletonised versions to tourbillons, concept pieces, time-only models, others with mother-of-pearl dials, others with gold cases. The list goes on. And on. And on.

The model’s 50th anniversary in 2013 – the year in which Jack Heuer retired – was marked with yet another new design in which the Carrera name was applied to a 45mm ‘bull’s head’ chronograph that had little to do with the beautifully nuanced original of ’63. For this year’s 60th birthday, however, TAG Heuer’s young-but-wise CEO Frederic Arnault sensibly opted to restore the Carrera’s vintage vibe in what is proving to be a 12-month conveyer belt of Carrera ‘moments.’

After launching a 600-piece ‘panda dial’ edition which closely resembles the original ‘63 model in January, March saw the unveiling of a whole slew of new Carreras at Geneva’s Watches & Wonders show. And the star among them is the ‘Glass Box’ chronograph which decorates the cover of Oracle Time issue 95 from this month – and which TAG Heuer hopes will bring new, younger buyers to a sexagenarian watch with an oft-told history.

Glass box crystals (ie those that are shaped and shouldered rather than being set flat into the case) are synonymous with the vintage look, but there’s more to it than that with this new Carrera. When Jack Heuer designed the original, his main aim was to make it a truly functional driver’s watch – and functionality is even more of a feature of the new one, which combines that prominent crystal with a thoughtfully curved dial to put the tachymeter scale and indexes on an angle. The result: an easy-to-read display contained within a suitably retro case of just 39mm in diameter.

The glass box also allows the watch to be comfortably slim and, behind the choice of black or blue dials, you’ll find an up-graded version of the HEUER02 movement, the TH20-00, with an all-new oscillating weight and bi-directional winding. The same crystal appears on the Carrera Chronograph tourbillon powered by the in-house TH20-09 chronometer-certified movement, but that watch measures 43mm and showcases its tourbillon at six o’clock through an aperture in its own, curved dial.

Watches and Wonders also saw the wraps pulled-off three other new Carreras – two with conventional crystals, HEUER02 movements and blue or black dials with orange detailing; the third a three-hand date model in the same, 36mm case as the 1963 watch. Which sort of takes us back to the beginning…. although we haven’t mentioned the Carrera’s recent re-appearance as a sailing watch. But that’s a whole other chapter in what must surely be the longest-running and most convoluted story in the history of the chronograph.

And if you want to learn about it in full, October will see the publication of TAG Heuer’s official book about the watch, TAG Heuer Carrera – the Race Never Stops, which includes a definitive explanation of the Carrera’s genesis, evolution and importance by the brand’s heritage director and vintage timepiece expert Nicholas Biebuyck. If you want to know everything there is to know about the archetypal racing watch, you’ll need it.

More details at Tag Heuer.

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If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, Seiko loves to celebrate an anniversary. Considering that it’s the 110th anniversary of Seiko’s first wristwatch there certainly is cause for celebration but the new Presage ‘Laurel’ 110th Anniversary Limited Edition collection is by my counting at least the fourth set of releases this year dedicated to this occasion.

We’ve already seen the release of a King Seiko model, a Prospex Save the Ocean edition, and the ‘Laurel’ Takumi launched for the anniversary celebrations. Today though we’re focussing on the trio of new Presages.

Seiko Presage ‘Laurel’ Limited Edition 110th Seiko Wristwatchmaking Anniversary SPB401J1

First up we have the SPB401J1 which is the most traditional of the trio in that it has the signature Laurel numerals and a subdial at 6 o’clock inspired by the 1913 original. Obviously there has been some updates in the intervening 110 years, the subdial here is a date complication rather than small seconds and there’s a power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock now.

In terms of style though, it’s very close to the original with its Takumi style enamelling, white dial and red 12 o’clock marker. The colours feel very Japanese, reminiscent of their flag and rising sun iconography.

Structurally, the piece has a round case in stainless steel with a super hard coating that measures 40.2mm in diameter. Housed inside and protected by an exhibition caseback is the Calibre 6R27 with 45-hour power reserve.

Seiko Presage Sharp Edged ‘Laurel’ Limited Edition 110th Seiko Wristwatchmaking Anniversary SPB413J1

Second in the collection is the Sharp Edged ‘Laurel’ limited edition, which is really interesting because with its sleek case, facetted hour markers and hyper intricate dial the Sharp Edged is one of Seiko’s most modern designs. So here we see both ends of the Seiko design spectrum meeting in the middle for a special edition.

Specifically, it takes the classic patterned dial of the Sharp Edged and renders it in white like the Laurel and adds a red indicator at 12 o’clock. This is lowkey the best that the Sharp Edged has ever looked, the white and red is super clean and it emphasises the textured dial in ways that the darker coloured versions don’t.

Like the SPB401J1 above, the SPB413J1 is 40.2mm in diameter although this watch houses the 6R55 instead. It lacks the additional complications of the 6R27 but makes up for that with an extended 72-hour power reserve.

Seiko Presage Style 60s ‘Laurel’ GMT Limited Edition 110th Seiko Wristwatchmaking Anniversary SSK015J1

Last up is the Style 60s ‘Laurel’ GMT edition. Technically this is the second anniversary GMT being launched because alongside the three Presage models there’s a fourth Prospex Alpinist ‘Laurel’ GMT, which you can read about in our article about that collection here. Focussing back in on the SSK015J1 though, it’s without doubt my favourite of the trio.

It has a vertically brushed dial in white and grey with a red arrow marker at 12 o’clock giving a subtle nod to the Laurel colourway while at the same time feeling like a unique colourway of its own. I like the sharp triangle of the hands and the retro vibes of the piece including the 24-hour scale bezel. This feels like a watch that jet-setting businesspeople might wear in the sixties, which is entirely the point.

The case is 40.8mm in diameter made from stainless steel. Powering this model is the 4R34 with 41-hour power reserve. It’s the lowest spec of the three movements used across this collection but I think that’s ok considering that this is also the most accessible.

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Over the last few weeks there have been a couple of Oris watch releases that fall outside of their usual remit. The Artelier is a lovely soft relaunch of Oris’ dress watch collection while the AquisPro 4000m is a gargantuan entry into the world of ultra deep dive watches. However, the third of their recent launches is firmly back inside their wheelhouse. It’s the Oris x Bracenet Aquis Date with green dials made from upcycled ‘ghost’ fishing nets.

What do I mean by the Oris wheelhouse? Well, for the most part Oris produce great value tool watches with a slant towards sustainability and promoting environmental awareness. That’s exactly what the new watch is with its stainless-steel case available in both 43.5mm and 36.5mm diameters and with 300m water resistance.

The sustainability element comes from the dial, which was created in partnership with Bracenet, a company who use upcycled ghost nets to create accessories and jewellery. “Ghost net” is a term used for discarded fishing nets that are left floating in the world’s oceans and that will continue to capture and kill wildlife for 600-800 years if left in their current state. The dial of the Oris x Bracenet is made from the upcycled ghost net material and has a swirling pattern of light and dark greens. It looks cool and reminds me of the Aquis Upcycle.

Housed inside the watch is the Oris Calibre 733, a time and date movement with automatic winding and a 38-hour power reserve. It’s very much a staple in their more accessible watches, which makes sense since it’s based on the Sellita SW200-1. I would usually use this opportunity to bemoan the absence of the Calibre 400 but the use of that movement in the AquisPro 4000m means I am satisfied.

As for the price of the Oris x Bracenet Aquis Date, it’s £2,000 at both sizes. That’s exactly the same as the aforementioned Aquis Upcycle and only £50 more than the 41.5mm Aquis Date on bracelet. Ultimately, this isn’t the most exciting or headline grabbing Oris release recently, but as a counter argument to that, it’s probably the one you’re most likely to buy. That is, if you can pull off a 43.5mm or 36.5mm size watch.

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After news surfaced last week that Rolex is planning to buy the popular independent watch retailer Bucherer it left some people wondering if that meant Rolex would be battening down the hatches and reducing their involvement with other retailers. This possibility was so concerning that some retailers (Watches of Switzerland in particular) experienced substantial share price drops. However, Watches of Switzerland and Rolex have renewed their commitment to working together with the news that the retailer’s UK stores are now part of the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned Programme.

The programme, launched last year, essentially means that every Rolex watch in the scheme has been serviced by Rolex and given a renewed warranty. Providing collectors with confidence and security in the pre-owned watches. And now those watches are going to be available from Watches of Switzerland, Goldsmiths and Mappin and Webb both online and in their showrooms.

Watches of Switzerland CEO Brian Duffy commented that “We are proud to continue to work closely with Rolex and to offer Certified Pre-Owned timepieces in the UK, having already experienced a positive reception in the US. We look forward to presenting an extensive offering in our showrooms and also online, continuing to offer our clients the opportunity to purchase in confidence and experience our expertise and excellence”.

What does this mean for consumers? On the positive side, between the service and the warranty you really can have confidence that the watches you’re buying are genuine and in good condition. On the cynical side, you’ll likely see a dramatic mark-up on Rolexes that have the seal of approval. Where the programme has been rolled out at other retailers, the watches have been priced at as much as £10,000 above where an equivalent watch is priced at other locations without the seal.

But still, the main headline is that despite initial concerns you can most definitely continue to pick up Rolexes from a variety of retailers.

More details at Watches of Switzerland.

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Eiji Akaso wears a Casio G-Shock GA-2100 watch while playing protagonist Akira Tendo in the Japanese Netflix film Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead. The watch can be briefly seen in the trailer and appears in a closeup in the first minute of the movie as he escaped a hoard of zombies in his […]

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I’ll be the first to admit that Horage weren’t really on my radar prior to the launch of the Tourbillon 1, which made a huge splash – keep an eye out for a story on that particular watch coming soon in the magazine. Then there’s also the Lensman 2 is a really fun photography themed timepiece that manages to tread the line between novelty and serious timepiece well. Now, I have in front of me the brand new Horage Supersede Date, a more conventional watch in that it’s a relatively straight and narrow dive watch.

It’s 39.5mm in diameter with a thickness of just 10.28mm, which means this is a dive watch that actually looks well sized on my slim wrists. Speaking of diving, it has 200m water resistance, which is solid for a watch of this size and certainly enough for a snorkel at the surface even if I wouldn’t strap on a scuba tank. It’s really comfortable to wear, the size makes it practical and relatively lightweight, although on steel bracelet it’s not so light as to feel like a toy.

However, the design of the case is not what’s new, having been previously used for the Supersede GMT. The Supersede Date is mostly a visual update to the dial, since it has foregone the GMT function and power reserve indicator in favour of a clean time and date display. It’s a lot more legible than its predecessor and I’m kind of glad the power reserve indicator is gone because it no longer interrupts the hour marker at 12 o’clock, which is now as long as its brethren at 11 and 1.

There are two dial colours available. One is a sunray brushed blue called Cenote Blue and the other, which I have here, is Coral Black. The Coral Black has more of a matte finish that barely reflects any light, if it were any darker I’d almost put it in the same category as Musou paint. I also like that they’ve made the date disc black with white numerals to better match the dial.

Turning the Supersede Date over reveals the K2 in house movement through the sapphire crystal exhibition window. It looks fantastic with its gold tungsten micro-rotor (which you can upgrade to platinum for approximately £1,000 extra) and combination of finishes that include Geneva stripes and what Horage call quadratic black squares. Take into consideration the gorgeous finishing and 72-hour power reserve and the watch lives up to the price tag of CHF 4,900 (approx. £4,400).

Having spent a couple of days with the watch, I can’t say that everything about it is perfect. The bracelet is a little too thin, both in terms of the link thickness of about 2.75mm and the taper which goes down to 16mm. I’m also not a huge of the polished centre links, although you can get it with brushed links instead, which would be my preference. I think I’d also prefer the bezel to be broader with straighter sides. At the moment it has quite a steep angle to its edges, making it very easy to use don’t get me wrong, but I think a broader surface and a larger scale would make it visually read as a dive watch a tad more.

Ultimately those are small gripes and if you don’t like the bracelet then it’s also available on rubber strap to completely mitigate that problem. The bezel is a more concrete concern but honestly, it’s a case of learning to love it with time, a couple of days is too short to accurately judge it. But let’s not finish by dwelling on the few issues when really this is a great little dive watch. It manages to do all the dive watch things while being slim and understated and for that, it gets my approval. Especially when tastes at the moment and trending towards smaller watches.

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In recent years it could be said that Corum have fallen from their previous heights as an haute horological powerhouse. Now though they’re having a bit of a return to form. Specifically, they’re exploring fresh concepts with the fittingly named the Corum Concept Watch that features a hyper-skeletonised display that appears to float in a void of stars.

Let’s start with the case as that’s the simplest part of the Concept Watch. It’s 39.5mm in diameter and made from recycled titanium, making it lightweight, durable and sustainable. Although as a one-off concept watch it’s more a commitment to sustainability in the future rather than an example of sustainability in practice. Style-wise it looks somewhat like a spaceship, which suits the astral theme of the piece, featuring pronounced, Nautilus-esque flanks and an oversize crown.

What makes this watch visually spectacular is without a doubt the dial, consisting of a series of clear sapphire plates that support the movement and an aventurine glass base that gives it the appearance of floating in stars. It’s impressively dynamic with an exposed gear train operating the central hour and minute hands and a flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock.

My favourite part of the watch is quite possibly the caseback, which has a small exhibition window revealing the movement from the back while around the edges are a complete set of annotations. The annotations point out useful information like the position of the tourbillon, the 90-hour power reserve and the functions of the crown. It reminds me of the H. Moser & Cie. Perpetual Calendar for Dummies that used a similar style of annotations. It falls on just about the right side of irreverent to be fun and charming.

I will say that the strap it’s presented on seems a little out of place: a textile number with Velcro fastening. It doesn’t have the luxury high end feel of the watch itself and I’m not a fan of the way the lugs attach to the fabric. However, putting my initial reaction to the strap aside, I do understand the concept behind its use and as this is a Concept Watch, that’s half the battle. Velcro was invented by a Swiss scientist and was famously used in the space suits of the Apollo missions, which means it connects with the space theme of the watch as well as the fact Corum are Swiss.

Of course, as a Concept Watch this is not really a production model so talking about value is irrelevant. What’s more interesting is speculating where these concepts will show up in future. I could imagine an aventurine glass Golden Bridge for example or an update to the case shape of the Lab or Bubble. Although if I had my way, they’d just put the Concept Watch into production because it is really cool.

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In a sign of the times, Casio is officially launching the Virtual G-Shock community to encourage users to connect and collaborate. This is not merely a forum or social media group but a creative project involving the issuance of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) on the Polygon blockchain. The NFTs will be available in sixteen countries, and […]

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Alongside the new Jumbo Extra-Thin Audemars Piguet have launched a pair of Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonneries in Black Ceramic. Traditionally when we think of minute repeaters we think of them being made from precious metals like gold because the sonorous qualities of the metal enhance the sound. Ceramic presents a completely different sonic challenge and as such, the case is specially adapted and features AP’s first ever full ceramic caseback.

I will admit that it took me a hot second to notice what the difference between the two watches here is. After all, even their reference numbers are almost identical: 26591CE.OO.D002CA.01 and 26591CE.OO.D002CA.02. The answer is that the first version has white gold indexes and the second has diamond ones and that’s it. I’m sure it makes a big difference when they’re in front of you, but on these few pixels of the internet, it’s not the most apparent change.

Since we’ve started talking about the display, let’s wrap that up before moving onto some of the more interesting parts of the watch. It has central hour and minute hands with a small seconds subdial against a black Grand Tapisserie backdrop. It’s pretty standard Royal Oak fare.

What’s very non-standard is the case itself. That claim might sound odd considering that from the front it looks every bit a classic RO, right down to the arrangement of the screws in the octagonal bezel. However, turning the Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie Black Ceramic over reveals the brand’s first ever full ceramic caseback, which is pretty special. It bears an engraving of the sonic waves produced by the chiming complication housed inside and there are slits around the edges that allow the sound to escape the dampening qualities of the ceramic unimpeded.

Not that the sound has much issue escaping considering that the minute repeater features AP’s supersonnerie concept. The supersonnerie debuted as part of the Royal Oak Concept line back in 2015 and is designed to increase the volume and resonance of the repeater to the levels expected of a pocket watch rather than a wristwatch. One of the key aspects of the supersonnerie is attaching the gongs (the chime that makes the sound when struck with a tiny hammer) to a titanium membrane rather than the mainplate as usual. This allows for good resonance regardless of the material characteristics of the rest of the watch.

The movement powering the Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie Black Ceramic is the Calibre 2953, a manual calibre with a power reserve of 72-hours. It’s a cool combination of haute horology and high performance materials working together in harmony. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s price on request.

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